Torpedo-guard.



E. R. TRAMMELL. TORPEDO GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20,1915.

Patented May 11, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

R- TRAMMELL.

TORPEDO GUARD,

APPLICAHON FILED FEB. 20, 1915,

Patented May 11 1915 3 SHEETSSHEET z.

S 1: 1 fog lhzmmell,

arl'ozuc u ERASMUS R. TRAMMELL, LAKELAND, FLORIDA.

TORIPEDO-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11,

Application filed February 20, 1915. Serial No. 9,662.

I To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ERASMUS R. TRAM- MELL,a citizen of the United States, residing at Lakeland, in the county ofPolk and State of Florida, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Torpedo-Guards; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in devicesfor protecting vessels at sea from injury resulting from contact withmines or torpedoes and it has for its object the provision of aneflicient means whereby contact mines or torpedoes will be exploded bycontact a sufficient distance from the vessel to prevent injury to thevessel which would result from contact with the hull of the vesselitself.

The invention has for a further object the provision of sectionalcurtains so positioned with reference tothe hull of the vessel to whichthey are so attached as to admit of their being carried, when not inuse, in contact with the upper portion of the hull of the vessel wherethey will not obstruct the free movement of the vessel and yet sopositioned as to render it possible to project the curtains from thevessel and dispose the same in "vertical position at a sufficientdistance from the hull of the vessel to present a continuous nettingsuflicient to protect it from possible injury resulting from contacteither with mines or torpedoes, the wall or netting being of suflicientstability to insure the explosion of either mines or torpedoes, andwhich would otherwise contact with the hull of the Vessel.

To these ends and to such others as the invention may pertain, the sameconsists in protected by sectional netting, constructedand' attached inaccordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the vessel. Fig. 4 is a detailplan view showing one of the sections and its connections. Fig. 5 is adetail side view showing the curtain removed and Fig. 6 is a detailperspective view of one of the curtains connected.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by numeral, 1represents the hull of a battleship or cruiser. A series of sectionalcurtains 4 is provided, each curtain consisting of a series ofrectangular frames 5, 6 and 7 each of the frames being provided with a'filling or screen 8, preferably constructed of heavy steel wire, theupper section along its lower edge having hinged connection with thenext adjacent section and the central section being in turn hinged atits lower edge to the upper edge of the lower section of the curtain,the hinges connecting the two lower sections being disposed upon theside of the frame opposite that on which are disposed the hingesconnecting the upper sections.

, The construction and relative arrangement of the sections of thecurtains are clearly illustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Thesesectional curtains are arranged in series extending along both sides ofthe hull of the vessel, each curtain slightly overlappingat its ends theadjacent curtains of the series at either end thereof. 9 is a lazy-tongconnection, one end of which is provided with interiorly threaded eyesor loops 10 to engage the screw-threaded bar or shaft 11, the lower endof which screwthreaded shaft 11 is seated within a concaved apertureprovided for its reception in the upper face of the slightly outwardlyextending lug or stub bracket 12 provided upon the .outer face of thehull of the vessel. The said shaft 11 extends upwardly and is inclinedoutward from the hull of the vessel and is passed through the outwardlyextending bracket arm 13 and at its extreme upper end is prov ded with asuitable operating crank 14. 15 is a beveled pinion, the teeth of whichpinion mesh with lid folded against or adjacent to the hull of thevessel, is thrown from the vessel to the limit of its outward throw, theturning of the crank 14 serving, through the medium of the transverseconnecting shaft 17, to cause "the opposite ends of the screen to movein unison. The curtain having been thus moved to the required distanceto prevent injury to the hull of the vessel, it is lowered by theslacking of the cord or cable connection 20, which cable extends over asuitable pulley 21 provided upon the upper edge of the upper screen 5 atits longitudinal center and extends across the face of the uppersections Sand 6 of the screen and its lower end is attached at thelongitudinal center to the outer face of the intermediate frame 6;

This construction serves to permit the twolower sections of the screento fall by gravity so as to present the-full width of the protectingcurtain which, when thus in position, cxtends to a sufficient distancebelow the surface of the water to effectually curtains from theiroperative positions, it

will be noted that the reversal of the movement of the crank 14 willserve to cause the folding of the lazy-tong connection 19, the foldingof which against the inclined shaft 11 will draw the series of curtainsstill held in their vertical positions to the inward limit of thefolding lazy-tong connection. The drawing in upon the cable 20 willcause the lower edge of the intermediate section 6 of the sectionalcurtain to be drawn upward and fold against the outer face of the uppersection. The upward movement of the lower edge of the intermediatescreen section 6 will, as will be noted upon reference to Fig. 6, causethe hinged lower section '7 of the curtain to be folded by gravity inthe opposite direction so that, when the two upper sections are folded,the lower section will be automatically folded against the opposite faceof the first and upper sections, thus, when folded, the several partswillassume the positions indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, in whichfigure the posi tions of the parts, when the curtains are in thepositions which they assume when thrown into operative connection withthe hull of the vessel, are indicated upon the left side of the figure,and the-position assumed by the curtains and the lazy-tong connectiontherewith, when in normal position and not in use, is indicated upon theright side of the hull of the vessel.

It will be understood that the several sections are identical inconstruction so that the foregoing description of a single sectionalcurtain and means for operating the same will apply to all of thecurtains, each curtain being operated independently of the others in theseries.

it will be noted upon reference to Fig. l of the drawings that sectionalcurtains, such as above described, are provided upon both sides of thevessel and in the equipment of the vessel, the curtains, when in theirprotecting position, may be disposed at such distance from the hull ofthe vessel as may be found necessary to effectually prevent injury tothe vessel resulting from explosion of either torpedoes or mines withwhich the curtains may come in contact. As this distance may be varied,I do not in this application propose to limit myself to any specificdistance.

In order to complete a protecting wall surrounding the entire vessel,thus protecting both the bow and stern of the vessel as well as thesides as described, I provide both the bow and stern of the vessel withsectional curtains 23, which at the apex formed by the meeting edges ofthe curtain,

are pivotally connected as shown at 24. Secured at the pivotal point ofconnection between the curtains 23 is one end of a cable 25, theopposite end of which cable is wound about a vertically disposed drum orcapstan 26 at the bow and stern ends of the vessel Said capstans ordrums, each has a crank 27 secured thereto which, when being operated,

will cause the cables to wind about the same when it is desired to raisethe curtains, it being noted upon reference to Fig. 2 that lazy tongs 28are connected to the forward ends of the curtains while their rear endshave bearings in which,said crank shafts are mounted.

From the foregoing description, it will be at once evident that by myinvention I have provided an effectual protection to vessels which areexposed to possible attacks at sea either by floating or fixed contactmines as well as torpedoes, the apparatus being so connected with thevessel as to admit of its being thrown into or out of operative positionquickly and easily. It'is my purpose to construct the sectional curtainsof such size and material as will effectually prevent contact of eithermines or torpedoes with the hull of the vessel to which they areattached, the curtains being of sufiicient rigidity to serve to cause anexplosion of any of the Various types of torpedoes or contact mineswhich are used in modern warfare whether the projectile exploding leversor triggers extending out-,

' or mine be of a type which is designed to explode by direct contact orby means of ward from. the projectile.

It will be at once evident that the connections between the sectionalcurtains and the vessel to which they are attached may be of such acharacter as to permit of the ready detachment of the curtains from thevessel at any time the vessel may be withdrawn from the war zone orlocalities in which danger is anticipated from either torpedoes ormines.

It is my purpose to provide extra curtains upon the vessel which can atany time be substituted for curtains that may be injured or destroyed byexplosions or from other causes.

What I claim to be new is 1. The combination with a vessel, of a seriesof folding curtains, a lazy-tong connection interposed between thevessel hull and curtain whereby the distance between the curtain andvessel may be adjusted.

2. The combination with the hull of a vessel, of a series of foldingscreens of outward or return it to proximity of the vessel hull abovethe water line.

3. A series of curtains, each comprising a series of hinged sections ofsuflicient rigidity to cause the explosion of mines or torpedoes,lazy-tong connections interposed between the curtains and the hull of avessel whereby the-screen may be thrown outward and suspended asuflicient distance from the hull of the vessel to cause the explosionof mines or torpedoes a sufficient distance from the vessel to protectthe same against injury resulting from the explosion.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

ERASMUS R. TRAMMELL.

Witnesses:

FRANKLIN H. HoUGH, A. L. HOUGH.

